Sore a@#e brigade

[funk my fixie]

Hello all

just joined up and in need of some HELLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP. I have a fixed wheel bicycle with a razorblade of a seat (ouch!!!!). It was £40 NOT well spent. My rear feels like ....... well you get the gist. I have purchased a gel saddle cover which has not helped much. I am worried about hurting my delicate parts and would rather not cause long term damage to anything important down there. Can anyone offer advice towards reducing my troubles.

Yours greatfully Mark (and his dangly bits)

 

[derrick]

Never had to change a saddle on any of the bikes, but i am a light weight with a pert little bum.

 

[musa]

Charge Spoon for £20 everyone rates I was looking at getting one

but I've kept the saddles I get. note does get sore so some padded short wont go a-miss

 

[funk my fixie]

Never had to change a saddle on any of the bikes, but i am a light weight with a pert little bum.

ya cheeky B, lol. I am only 11 stone. If I had more of a backside it would cusion my bits. My wife says I don't even have a bum, pert or not hahaha

 

[funk my fixie]

Hi Mark - welcome......difficult one this - saddles are very personal. Two things to think about (i) is the saddle OK but you just need a bit of time to harden up your rear or (ii) have you the wrong saddle? My advice is to perhaps get a Charge Spoon, which shouldn't be too expensive and then build up some hard skin.

Good luck

thanks for that

 

[biggs682]

saddles are such a minefield , some swear br Brooks others by whatever but you might not like either ? where you based as another member might be local who have a couple of saddles you could try out to help you decide , i have a couple if you are local to me in nn8 postcode .

 

[derrick]

You could try one of these, Selle San Marco new Ponza Power, it was fitted on the bike when new, have done 80 mile ride on it no probs, the other saddle i use is a Specialized Rival, Body Geometry again standard fit. would like to try one of them expensive Fizik ones, but can't afford to at the mo.

 

[Psycolist]

Over the last 5 years i've tried a number of different seats. I would have no hesitation in recommending a Selle SMP TRK. Enty level saddle in thier range @ £35, so in the scheme of things, affordable, and although my longest ever ride has been only 40 miles, i've found it to be a long way ahead in comfort, from anything else i've tried. Also, whatever saddle you use, take time to adjust the tilt and distance to give the most comfy position AFTER doing a good few miles, not from cold.

 

[rb58]

And ditch the gel cover, especially for long rides. It won't helping as it introduces pressure points in the wrong places.

 

[Fubar]

And ditch the gel cover, especially for long rides. It won't helping as it introduces pressure points in the wrong places.

I'd agree ditch the gel cover (always thought they would move around too much) but I would recommend getting some decent padded undercrackers that you wear next to your skin (honest!), keeps sweat from building up and helps protect sensitive areas - can also recommend Sudocrem for skin recovery!

 

[rb58]

..... can also recommend Sudocrem for skin recovery!

I use Sudocrem before long rides as well. Others use different brands. Seems to keep soreness at bay for me.

Actually I'm not sure whether your chosen brand of mintyareslard is supposed to 'lubricate' the skin/pad area, or 'stick' it to transfer the friction to the shorts/saddle interface instead of the skin/pad interface.

 

[Fubar]

I use Sudocrem before long rides as well. Others use different brands. Seems to keep soreness at bay for me.

Actually I'm not sure whether your chosen brand of mintyareslard is supposed to 'lubricate' the skin/pad area, or 'stick' it to transfer the friction to the shorts/saddle interface instead of the skin/pad interface.

I'm not too sure myself either, though recently I've been applying a thin layer to a "sensitive" area which has been troublesome before and after - seems to do the trick!

 

[funk my fixie]

Over the last 5 years i've tried a number of different seats. I would have no hesitation in recommending a Selle SMP TRK. Enty level saddle in thier range @ £35, so in the scheme of things, affordable, and although my longest ever ride has been only 40 miles, i've found it to be a long way ahead in comfort, from anything else i've tried. Also, whatever saddle you use, take time to adjust the tilt and distance to give the most comfy position AFTER doing a good few miles, not from cold.

Yeah thanks I will try this. I never thought of the tilt. That would help I guess. Will let you know if potty time is less painful in the future xxx

Mark

 

[colly]

Have you looked at the positioning of the saddle? A few mm up or down / backwards or forwards, amount of tilt or lack of it can make a huge difference.
Good padded shorts is a must too. As has already been said.

Edit: Just noticed someone has already said that..............It's still good advice though.

 

[Mike Alexander]

Over the last 5 years i've tried a number of different seats. I would have no hesitation in recommending a Selle SMP TRK. Enty level saddle in thier range @ £35, so in the scheme of things, affordable, and although my longest ever ride has been only 40 miles, i've found it to be a long way ahead in comfort, from anything else i've tried. Also, whatever saddle you use, take time to adjust the tilt and distance to give the most comfy position AFTER doing a good few miles, not from cold.

I've had the same Selle SMP TRK saddle for three years now and transferred to each new bike I've bought rather than using the stock saddle (it's been used on three different bikes so far). Most recently, I purchased a Boardman Road Comp and thought I'd try the saddle that came with the bike. It was comfortable for a while, but I soon suffered the same "numbing" problem that prompted me to get the TRK in the first place. After a couple of rides with the Boardman saddle I swapped it for my trusty (and well worn) TRK and it felt like sitting on a cushion in comparison!
The other thing I noticed is that on my two rides with the Boardman saddle, I ran out of energy a lot sooner than normal, which I just couldn't understand at first. However, I read elsewhere that restricted blood flow – one of the things Selle SMP saddles are designed to alleviate – can have a significant detrimental impact on performance. After swapping to the TRK, I was back to normal. I really wouldn't have expected a saddle to have such an impact.
So, it's worth pointing out that the saddle you use not only affects your comfort on the bike, it also has a significant impact on your performance.